Printer for morse code signals



Feb. 24, 1948. R. E. MATHES PRINTER FOR MORSE CODE SIGNALS Filed Feb. 22, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 NVENTOR '3 fiacfi /15 4: LTTORNEY Feb. 24, 1948. R. E. MATHE'S 2,436,441

PRINTER FOR MORSE CODE SIGNALS Filed Feb. 22, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY W410 ATTORNEY 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR m I I 1 1 0 ATTORNEY Feb. 24, 1948. R. E. MATHES PRINTER FOR MORSE CODE SIGNALS Filed Feb. 22, 1945 [ZZMIMMS Feb. 24, 1948. R. E. MATHES PRINTER FOR MORSE CODE SIGNALS 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 22

INVENTOR fZzakardE/Hm ATTbRN EY Feb. 24, 1948. R. E. MATHES FRINTER FOR MORSE CODE SIGNALS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 22, 1945 9% 5M m ME d m w i omw-obmx akmmamcziJza.Io u=om I I I I I I n i .N I I n I=I I I I I I I m .lll u mlu iullll mlll i. W F ull m ull mlllljll mjll m .III M M MIIIIIIIMIIIIII w uHi1!-imijjjjjmiljj ATTO R N EY Patented Feb. 24, 1948 2,436,441 PRINTER FOR MORSE com: sIGN'Ai Ls Richard E. Mathes, Silver Spring, MIL, as'signor to Radio Corporationof America, a corporation of Delaware Application February 22, 1945, Serial na siazsi 7 Claims.

i This invention relates to printing arrangements {or Morse code telegraph signals, either in wire or radio systems. At the present time Morsecode signals are not printed directly from the signal pulses received at the station. Pulses first operate a reperforator mechanism to perforate a paper tape. The perforated tape is then run through the printer, the most commonly used of which is the Creed printer such as is described in the U. S. Patent 1,529,873, March 17, 1925.

To minimise the delay, the tape, as it issues from the reperforator, is run through the printing mechanism, andto prevent breaking the tape through non-synchronous operation of the two devices, a loop oi slackta'pe'muSt be maintained "between the reperiorator and the Creed printer.

The use of tape is objectionable, as it requires the close attention of the operator to prevent snarlin and to make sure that neither too much nor too little tape remains in the loop. Furthermore, when signals are reperforated, there is always a delay so that the message cannot at once be utilized. While this delay is normally or the order of a minute or so, this is quite often serious in certain types of communication, for example, in stock market reports. It is an object of this invention to avoid the use of tape and equivalents in printing Morse telegraph signals, and to operate the printer dirctly by the signals as they are received.

Another object or the invention is to reduce the cost of telegraph printing by elimination of the use oftape.

Another object of the invention is to control the selection of printer code bars by the signals in the last half cycle of the code characters and to control the printing mechanism by the signal in the first half cycle of the following letter or word space cycle.

Another object is to reduce the number of selector bars required, by controlling the selection in the second half of the dot cycles instead of the firs Other objects of the invention will appear in the followin description, reference being had to the drawings, in which:

Figure l is a plan view of my invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the parts shown in Figure 1, the sectioning of a part of this figure being taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l.

b Figure 3 is an end elevation of the parts of Figure 1, certain parts being omitted.

Figure 4 is a rear elevation of a certain combination of elements of Figure l.

Figures 5, 6 and 7 are detail sectional views of the selector bars, taken on thelines 5-5, 6-6, 1-1, respectively, of Figilie 1.

Figure 8 is an enlarged detail view of the mechanism for operating the selector bars, certain parts being omitted.

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 8, the selector bars being shown in dotted lines to illustrate the operation.

Figure 10 is a still further enlarged detail 01' the tilting table for elevating the operating bars.

Figure 11 is an enlarged detail plan of the armature extension and certain 'co-a'cting parts.

Figure 12 is a sectional elevation taken on the line l2-I2 of Figure 11.

Figure 13 is an end view of the parts shown in Figure 11.

Figure 14 is a series of graphs illustrating the surfaces of the rotary cains in relation to the cam followers at the start oithe printing operation.

Figure 15 is a section of a detail taken on the line l5-I5 of Figure 2.

Figure 16'is a diagram illustrating the position of certain parts in respect to the dot cycle.

Figure 17 is a semi-diagrammatic illustration of one way of slotting the'selector bars to receive the associated pull bars of a printer utilizing my improvement.

Figure 18 illustrates the Morse cable code. the space between adjacent lines being a half dot cycle.

Prior art printers for Morse-type signals. such as the Creed, for example, require a special selecting mechanism because of the unequal length of the various code elements. In the Morse code the shortest signal is the letter E, having one dot cycle, and the longest is zero, having five dashes, or ten dot cycles. With such variable length characters, it has'heretoiore been thought impossible to use the mechanism of the well-known printers for equal length characters, such as the Baudot code, because the end of the signal is diiiicult to determine. I have evolved a method whereby the termination of a code signal can be sensed, irrespective of the signal length, thus making it possible to utilize Baudot types of printers as well as Creed printers and my improvement e ables one to reduce the number of code bars to less than half the usual number.

The sensing of the beginning and end of the Morse code signals is based on the fact that the first half cycle of every code signal is necessarily amark, and the first half cycle after a completed character is necessarily a space. The manner in which my improved apparatus takes advantage of these facts will now be explained.

By way of example I have illustrated my invention in connection with the start-stop type of printing mechanism of the type shown in the patent to Morton and Krum. 1,745,633. February 4, 1930. from which its use with other types will be apparent.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, an electric motor (not shown) is geared to rotate the shaft l in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1 through worm gear 2. This shaft has rigidly keyed thereto clutch member 3 and worm gear 4, so that these parts are rotated by the motor continuously. Looseiv iournaed on shaft I is a member having cams and 6 with a hub I and a gear 8. Clutch member 9 is splined on the hub 1 so that it can be brought into and out of engagement with the coo erati g clutch member 3. Spring ll) tends to force the clutch member 3 into engagement with the clutch member 3. When the two clutch members are enmeshed, cams 5 and 6 and gear 3 are rotated with the shaft I.

Shaft l is journaled at II and i2 in a frame member i3 secured on the base (not shown). T e worm gear 4 mes es with a cooperating g ar i5. having twice its pi ch diame er, Gear i5 is keved to stub shaft E. to which is keved slip clu ch member l1. Th s stub shaft is journaled at (B in the frame member l3. The cooperating slip clutch member I9 is plined on another shaft 20. iournaied at 2| and 22 in frame member 23, which may either be separate or integral with the frame member l3. A four-entry worm gear 24 meshes with gear 25. keyed to stub shaft 26. Shafts and 2B rotate in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. Spring 21 on shaft 20 abuts against the worm 24 and the clutch member is to produce the desired pressure between the clutch members I! and IS. A cam wheel 28 is rigidly fastened to the end of shaft 20. This cam wheel has two cam lugs 29 and 30 on opposite diametric points of its surface (Figs. 1 and 11).

A stop lever 3! is pivoted at 32 in the frame member I3 (Figs. 1 and 4) and is positioned to enter the channel 33 of the sliding clutch member 3. When this stop lever is brought into the channel 33, its end 34 engage-s the cam wall 35 and forces the member 9 out of engagement with the clutch member 3 against the tension of spring in. Thereupon. the end 34 engages the abutment 36 and holds the clutch in disengaged position. Spring 31 tends to hold the stop lever 3| out of the groove 33 to permit the two clutch members 3 and 3 to engage. This stop lever is forced into groove 33 by bell crank lever 38 under action of stop lever 39 pivoted at 40 to frame member l3. Spring 4|, having one end fastened to one end of the stop lever 39 and the other end fastened to the frame member l3, tends to disengage the end 42 from the stop notch in clutch member l3 (Fig. 3). Stop lever 39 is operated at the beginning and end of each code character and thus synchronlsm is maintained, as in the usual startstop printer.

Shaft 26. driven by gear 25, is keyed to drum 43 (Fig. 3), which contains a plurality of operating bars 44, resting at their inner ends on fulcrum ring 45 on the drum (Figs. 3 and 9). These operating bars are notched where they engage the fulcrum by cap 46 and compression spring 41 surrounding shaft 28. The opposite ends of operating bars 44 have projections 43 fitting in slots 43 in the drum 43. .The purpose of these will be fulcrum 45 and are yieldingly held against the later explained. In the example given, there will be thirty-six of these bars, but only a few are illustrated to simplify the explanation,

Secured to a base 5| is a series of selector bars, ten in number, though, as later explained, the tenth bar may be omitted. It has been included in the illustration to better illustrate the principle of the selection. These are designated as a whole by the reference character 52. The base 5| is a part of, or is secured to, a cover plate 53a (Fig. 2) fastened to the printer base by suitable supports (not shown), The cover 530 is only fragmentarily shown in the figures, so as not to obscure the various co-acting parts that constitute my invention. The ten selector bars 52 are arcuate in form, as is usual in start-stop printers. These bars each have one cam arm 53 and are of identical dimensions and shape, except that the cam arms 53 increase in length successively from the bottom towards the top, as illustrated in Fig. 3. For example, the bottom or first selector bar (Fig. 5) has a short cam arm 53 that lies entirely in the plane of the first selector bar. The cam arms of successive bars increase successively in length by the thickness of a code bar. This is illustrated in Figs, 6 and 7, which show the length of the cam arms on the eighth and tenth selector bars, respectively. These cam arms, as shown in Fig. 3, thus have their cam ends aligned in the same horizontal plane just above the upper edge of drum 43. The operating bars 44, when in normal position, will not engage them, but will engage them when raised by mechanism later described.

The selector bars are held between pins '54 and 55 by a pair of vertical bars 51, each engaging the outer edges of the selector bars and fitting in slots 58 and 59 of the top plate 56 and base 5!, respectively (Figs, 1 and 6). A flat spring 60 of arcuate shape has its center fitting in a groove 6| in each bar 51 and its ends resting against a bushing 62 clamped between the top plate 56 and base 5| by bolt 63.

Each of the selector bars 52 has a slot 64 in its mid-portion receiving the end 65 of an operating lever 66. There is an operating lever journaled on the bolt 61 fastened to the top plate 56 and base 5| (Fig. 1) for each selector bar. Each of these operating levers is urged clockwise in Fig. 1 by a spring 58, one end of which is fastened to bolt 53 and the other end to the end 65 of the operating lever. This stop lever moves between stop pins 61a and 61b. The top plate 56 is broken away in Fig. 1 to show this spring construction. The operating levers 65 and 58 are of the same thickness as the selector bars, so that a selector bar and its operating lever can be freely moved independently of the other selector bars and operating levers.

The ends 69 of the operating levers 66 have a connection of the ball and socket type with the ends of swords 70, ten in number in this case. Each sword has projections H and 12 adjacent the vertical prongs 13, I4 of a front armature extension 15 pivoted at 16. 'In Fig. 2 only one operating lever is illustrated, so as not to complicate the illustration. The armature extension is connected to armature 11 adapted to be attracted by line magnet 18 secured to the frame 23 by any means, for example, by bracket 19. The armature has a rear extension 8| with a hook 82 adapted, when moved by the line magnet on a mark signal, to engage trip latch 83 pivoted at 84 in the framing member 13 and move it from engagement with stop lever 39. Spring m tends to ig'oldjin's trip iatfih inen .c se with? vn tyri with theses... s engagement with the abutment'of clutch member meswe .8 i sn I d m ign as thearmature 11 is attracted, vertical rone T4 will be stvlir'ig 'over abutment I2 o fthe swords -I'iI (hen the line magnet I8 is tie-energized 6n b; space'signaii, spring 86 turns the armature eiitension in a clockwise direction, which brings" a brief time during each half revolution of 'cafn when 2: (Figs. 11, 12 and s). The rod 90 is siidahiy mounted in the mi e members 21 ar'id 22 (Figs. 1 and 2) and is adapted to engage and operate bellcran'lr 91 when the trigger in'sert is placed etween the rod and cam 29 or 30. The

nsert is placed in this position only on "space,"

that is, now when line magnet s is die-energized. on mark" the trigger insert is removed by energiza'tio'n of the line magnet 18 and the cams 29 and 30 cannot then engage and operate the rod" 90. The one or the other cam lug takes this position only during the mid-part of the first half of the dot cycle, as clearly shown in Fig. The line magnet and its armature are removed i'rdin Fig. 2 to prevent obscuring of the other parts.

Bell crank BI, when moved by rod 90, engages an end of lever 92 and its other end then forces stop lever 39 down against the tension of its spring 4i, so that its end 42 engages the abutment in the hub of slip clutch member I9 (Figs. 1, 3 and 4). This stops the rotation of shaft 20 and permits the spring 31 to move stop lever 3! out of the notch of the hub of clutch member 9. This starts the rotation of cams 5 and 6 and gear 8 simultaneously with the stopping of shaft 20. When the line magnet 18 is energized (mark) and latch 83 is released, rod 90 is forced back to its normal position by spring 4i acting through the stop lever 39 and bell crank 9i. This disengages the end 42 from the clutch I9 and shaft 20 again rotates. When spring M performs this action, it also stops the rotation of cams 5 and 6 by forcing the stop lever 3i into engagement with cam wall and abutment 35 of the clutch member 9 through bell crank 38. Thus, when shaft 20 stops, cams 5 and B and gear 8 rotate, and vice versa.

Adjacent the outside rim of drum 43 is a letter bar 93 slldably supported on rods 94 and 95, held by the support 96 secured to the base. Spring 95a tends to hold this bar in the position shown in Fig. 9, with the collar 95b against the support 95. The support 96 also furnishes a journal bearing for shaft 25 (Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 8). The letter bar 93 is angle-shaped in cross section and has the platform 91 and support 987 The support 98 is the portion that slides on rods 94 and 95. The mounting of the letter bar is such that the projections 43 on operating bars 44 pass freely under the platform 91 when in lowered position.

A tilting table or ramp 99 is pivoted at I00 in a block IllI fastened to the cover 53a. (Figs. 8, 9 and 10). Spring I02 tends to pull the tilting platform against stop pin Hi3 and when in this position the projection 48 on the adjacent operating bar 44 engages the ramp, rides up its surface and 6 assassinate efii ti f 't ii ii fi siitfise n thermomet .e fs 's j can ext nsionsji'ilsuccession as long as it remains dn erli 'tfiifii i soon as the operating bar N rides over the do 11 center; of the tilting ramp 99, it snaps the r p s a dn l i i e on a s te s! this occurs, latch I05, pivoted at I05 inthe rcosto support 9}]. snaps over the ramp and holds it in the elevated position. This movement is i: duced by spring m bringing the latch into ngage rnnt with stop pin I08. Thus, one op- 'ating p if4! at a. time is permitted to a up the ramp "ontothe arcuate table ,1. The negtt 's ceding 'operating bar and all others pass und I the'rainp and platform 91, in the path between ddttedlines iIiBiz.

The construction is suchthat the upper edgeof hegcna of theoprating bar (4, when elevated, cheeses the cam projections 53 successively in the last halves, orily, of the "dot cycles and since the Morstele'graph code for letters and figures contains unit's varying in length from onedot 'ycie' to ten dot cycie's, meahs are provided to lower the elevated operatin bar 44 as soon as the refiui'site number of dot cycles inthe character hsve'occ'i rrca. This is accomplished by pushing the pla form 91 onwards at the end of the code srgn'ai aiia disengag n mg s therefrom. The

- operating bafi' then drops back to its lower position. This movemen is produced by rod III! (Figs. 1, 3, 4 one 8 cm 6. pin I I I and bell crar'i k II 2, as soon as clutch member 9 engages clutch rheh'ihr a. The ten crank in is pivoted between ears 3 on the U-shaped support 96 and the pin 'II fI is slidatily supported in the vertical bearing nicr'iih'er or frame I8 (Fig. 3). The tension or spring 95a tends to keep sliding pin III in engagement with the surface of cam B through the intermediate parts just described, but this spring will yield when the cam rotates and forces the platform 91 outwards throughsuch intermediate parts.

The swords Til, previously referred to, normally rest at the center of T-levers IN, of which there are ten. These T'-1evers are pivoted on pin l l5 secured to the cover 53a (Figs. 1 and 15). The r ctf rs rra op rsto cd bars I iii, of which there are ten. These bars are notched to receive the projection I"I 'I of pull bars II8 when they have been operated to the correct position for the incoming signal (Figs. land 2), There is, of course, a pull bar for each code character and also seyare! others to perform certain functions in the printing as is well known. In my improvement it is preferable to maintain the code bars in a position midway between the space and mark positions and this is accomplished by a slide I19 mounted in a channel guide I20 secured to the cover plate 53o (Figs. 1, 2 and 15). An angle iron I'ZI is mounted on the guide I20. Lever I22, piv- (Wed at I23 to the angle iron, has a ball and socket connection with the slide H9. Guide I20 hasa slot M4 to permit movement of this lever. Cam 5 operates rod I25, slidably mounted in frame I: and. This rod engages lever I22 and holds pins I26, iTI against T-lever II! with sword Ill at the center, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1. Spring IZIa moves the slide and pins away from the T- lever and permits the sword to pivot and ope ate a code bar when the cam 5 permits.

The printing of the character, after it has been selected, is accomplished by gear 8, which meshes with idler I28 journaled in frame I3 This idler meshes with gear I29 pivoted in frame I3, which two dot cycles.

33 passes the sliding rod 38 about the middle of,

7 carries a printing cam I34. A cam Iollower I3I, preferably in the form of a wheel, is journaled in lever I32 having a projection I33 engaging lever I34. Levers I32 and I34 are independently journaled at I35 in the frame I3 and their angular separation can be adjusted by stud I33. By suitably condensing the printing mechanism, the

.idler may be dispensed with and the cam I33 placed directly on the cam assembly containing cams i and 6. Lever I32, when moved by the cam I 30, moves lever I34 counter-clockwise. When the cam surface recedes, spring I33a moves lever I32 through the stud I33 and maintains follower I 3| in engagement with the cam. Lever I34 has a circular end I3I fitting in a slot in a bail-operating plunger I38. This plunger moves in bearings I33, I48, integrally joined together and secured to the base in a similar manner to that disclosed in said Morton and Krum patent. Plunger I38 carries at its upper end a bail III of arcuate shape similar to that of the code bars,

as indicated in Fig. 1. The bail'has a lip I42 adapted to engage the hook I43 of the selected pull bar IIB when it is moved upward, as such .pull bar falls into the aligned slot in the code, bars IIB. ing levers, the plunger, the detail construction .of the operating ball, the pull bars and code bars,

The main printing cam, theoperat T-levers and swords are, per so, not my invention and may be of standard form, for example, as shown in said Morton and Krum patent. For this reason, a detail showing of these parts is not made herein.

The operation of my improved telegraph printer will now be described:

As previously indicated. the design of the various gears is such that the cam wheel 28 (Figs. 1 and 13) makes one complete revolution for each That is, one of the cams 23 or the first half of each dot cycle. The diagram in Fig. 16 shows the relation of the parts in respect to a dot cycle. The elevated operating bar 44, however, moves past a cam projection 33 the last half of every dot cycle until lowered. Let it now be assumed that a signal for the letter A (dot, dash) comes in over the line and energizes magnet I8 accordingly (Fig. 1). Armature 'I'I will thus be attracted in the first half of the first dot cycle and rear extension M will bring the hook 42 into engagement with the trip latch 33 (Figs. 2 and 4). The trip latch is thus moved out of engagement with the stop lever 39 and spring 4| pulls the end 42 out of the notch in clutch I3.

slnce shaft I6 is constantly rotating. shaft 28 immediately starts revolving and rotates drum 43, operating bars 44 and cam wheel 23. Also, prong I4 on the front armature extension I is brought opposite the projections I2 of the sword III and prong I3 moves away from projection I-I. At this time ramp 33 is in released position from its catch I05 and a lever 44 rides thereup and .levels the ramp, after which latch I05 prevents the return of the ramp. In the last half of the first dot cycle (in Fig. 18 the last half cycles are numbered 1 to the upper part of the end of the elevated operating bar 44 engages the cam projection 53 of the bottom or first selector bar 52 (Figs. 1, 5 and 17). The first selector bar is vthen moved a short distance clockwise in Fig.

1 until the end 55 of its operating bar 66 engages stop pin 61a. During this movement. the end 69 of the operating bar pulls the end of the sword to the right in Fig. 1 and its end II engages the prong II, since line magnet I8 is de'energized in the second half cycle (space) for the letter A (Fig. 18). This pushes the point or the sword III down to the position I44, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The operating bar 44 then slides along the cam surface of cam 53 of the first selector bar and disengages therefrom. Operating member 66, however, cannot return to neutral position at this time, since the T-levers are held from moving by pins I23 and I21. These can be moved only by rotation of cam 5 when printing starts, as later described. The bar 51, spring 63 and the depth of the slot receiving end 34 permit movement of the letter bar 31 by passage of the member 44 over cam 33 at the end of the movement (Fig. 6)

The first half of the second dot cycle does not alter the operation, as clutch I3 has not been moved to stop position. During the second hali of the second dot cycle (Fig. 17), the energization of magnet III by the mark signal positions prong l4 opposite projection I2. Soon thereafter the operating lever 44 (still elevated) engages the second cam 53 and causes its operating bar 33 to .move the second sword to the right in Fig. 1.

Projection I2 engages prong I4 during this movement and the end of the second sword is moved up to position I 440. Since clutch member I3 is still engaged with clutch member II, nothing happens during the first half of the third dot cycle. The last half of the third dot cycle is a space, as shown in the code diagram of Fig. 18 and, as in the first dot cycle, the third sword will be moved to position I44 in engagement with the lower arm or its T-lever.

The code signal for the letter being completed, the first half of the fourth dot cycle is a letter space and at the middle of this half cycle either the cam 29 or 33 on cam wheel 28 is opposite the rod 38. Since magnet I3 is not energized for a space, trigger insert 83 is positioned between the cam projection and rod 93. Therefore, upon a slight further movement of the wheel 28, rod is pushed to the left in Fig. 4 and stop lever 33 is forced downwards into engagement with the notch in clutch member I3 through the movement of bell crank 3| and lever 32 (Figs. 3 and 4). Shaft 28 thereupon stops, the friction surface between clutch members I1 and I3 permitting this. Simultaneously with this action, the movement of the outer end of lever 33 permits spring 31 (Fig. 2) to move bell crank lever 38 and disengage stop lever 3| from the channel 33 in clutch member 3. Spring I0 thereupon brings clutch member 3 into engagement with clutch member 3, and cams 5, 6 and gear 8 start to rotate, substantially simultaneously with the stopping of shaft 20. Depression I45 on the surface of cam 5 immediately passes under rod I25 (Figs. 1 and 14) and spring I2'Ia moves slide HQ with pins I25 and I27 to the left in Figs. 1 and 2. The tension in springs 33 of the three previously moved operating levers 66 thereupon pushes the ends of the first, second and third swords III to the left against their T-levers H4, which rotate arrow M, This produces a line of slots under the projection II! of pull bar HR for the letter A, since code bars 4 to II), inclusive, are slotted in the center position as shown in Fig. 1'7. At about this time, elevation I43 on the surface of cam 6 engages rod I19 and pushes letter bar 93 outward (Figs. 4 and 8), against the tension of spring 950,, by means of pin III, bell crank lever H2 and rod IIO. Projection 48 of the elevated bar 44 then disengages the table 91 of this letter bar and the operating bar drops down to its lowered position after having engaged the first, second and third cam projections 53. As the table moves outward, latch I95 slides off the ramp 99 and it returns to the tilted position, under action of spring I92 (Figs. 8, 9 and 10), where it remains until the start of the next code unit.

At about the time the operating bar is dropped, main printing cam I35 moves levers I32 and I34 and elevates operating plunger I38 (Fig. 2). As this plunger moves upwards, the extension II! of pull bar II8 drops into the aligned slots in the code bars H3 and edge I42 of the operating bail I4I engages the hook of this pull bar. Upon its further movement, it engages the striker plate I48 and the pull bar is disengaged from the bail I4I. The momentum of the pull bar continues the motion of the key bar (not shown) and prints the letter A in a way Well known in the prior art, explained, for example, in said Morton and Krum patent. This printing operation occurs during a letter space, which is one dot cycle.

After the pull bar H8 is thrown out of the slot in the code bars by the striker plate I48, rod I25 leaves the depression I45 (Fig. 14) and this forces the slide II9 back so that pins I26 and I21 move the T-bars I I4 to center position. This moves the code bars IIB back to neutral position before the next dot cycle commences.

In the first half cycles of all characters, the swords are not moved, because a cam 53 is never engaged by the operating member 44 in the first half cycles. Engagement occurs only in the secnd half of the cycles, providing an operating member is on the platform 91.

Now let it be supposed that the letter N is received. This letter consists of a dash and a dot. When the first dot cycle of the signal is received (mark), the line magnet I8 is energized and its rear extension BI trips the latch I33. Stop lever 39 moves out of the notch of clutch I9, which immediately permits shaft 29 to rotate. Simultaneously, bell crank lever 38 is moved and stop lever 3| is forced into the groove 33 of clutch member 9. This happens at about the time the stop lever is adjacent the cam wall 35 on the clutch and a slight further movement disengages clutch member 9 from clutch member 3. The hook end of stop lever 3| then rests against the abutment 36 and holds the cams and 6 and gear 8 in a definite position ready for the next printing operation.

During the last half of the first cycle of the mark of letter N that has just started, the ad jacent operating member 44 rides up the tilting ramp 99. This operating lever will thus be elevated onto the platform 91, as previously described, whereupon the ramp 99 will latch into position again. This elevated operating bar will engage the first cam projection 53 and move the first sword It! to position I44a, as previously described for the letter A. Line magnet I8 will not be energized in the second half of the second cycle, as shown by Fig. 18, and when the elevated bar 44 engages the second cam projection 53, the second sword I0 will be moved down to position I44 in Fig. 1. The last half of the third cycle of the letter N is a space and magnet I8 will be de-energized when the third cam 53 is engaged by member 44. The third sword I9 will therefore be moved down to position I44. The first half of the fourth clot cycle is a letter space. Line magnet I8 remains de-energized and trigger insert 89 is positioned between rod 99 and cam 29 or 39. Therefore, stop lever 39 will have its end 42 forced into the notch of clutch member I9 and shaft 23 will stop. This permits bell crank lever 38 to move and lever 3| leaves the abutment 36 on clutch member 9. Cams 5 and 6 and gear 8 immediately start to rotate and release pins I26, I21, which move away from the T-levers. Springs 68 then move the first T- lever counter-clockwise and the second and third T-levers clockwise. This moves the first code bar to the right in Fig. 1'7 and the second and third code bars to the left. Slots in these three code bars and those in the seven other bars in neutral position will be positioned under the pull bar for the letter N, which will move thereinto and the letter N is then printed in the way described for the letter A.

In a way that will now be understood, all of the characters are printed directly by the Morse code signal pulses without any perforated tape. This occurs as the signals are received, so there is no time delay as in prior art Morse code printers.

An examination of Fig. 17 will show that slots are cut in all code bars that need to be moved for a given character, so that slots are positioned to the left of the pull bar for a mark in the last half cycles and to the right for a space in the last half cycles. All the unmoved code bars for such character will be in center position due to the retracting action of pins I26 and I2! under pressure of rod I25 and cam 5. These unmoved bars have slots under the pull bar of the character. For example, for the character G, code bars 1 to 5, inclusive, will in neutral position have unslotted portions under the pull bar for that letter, and code bars 6 to 10, inclusive, will have slots thereunder in such position. The first and third bars will have slots at the left, and the second, fourth and fifth bars will have slots to the right. The character zero will have no slots under the pull bar for that character, as it has five dashes and all ten code bars are moved in the selecting process. The way in which the slots occur for the other characters will be apparent from an inspection of Figs. 17 and 18 and this need not be further described. While it gives a margin of safety in operation to have as many selector bars. code bars and associated members as there are last half cycles (ten in Fig. 18) of the code used, the bars and members for the final half cycle (tenth in Fig. 17) may be omitted without duplicating any other selection.

By way of example I have shown a, particular mechanism to disclose my invention, but it will be apparent that many modified forms of signal storage would produce similar results. The invention is therefore not to be limited to any particular embodiment.

It will be understood that the usual spacing arrangement will be used to move the tape or other sheet as the characters are printed. This and other features are well known in the art and have not been illustrated or described.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In printers for codes having characters of unequal length, a plurality of code members, said code members having a mark position, a space position and a neutral position intermediate thereof, a plurality of printing members, means for selecting predetermined ones of said code members for movement to mark and space positions during the last half of each dot cycle of the received signals of a code character, means for starting the operation of the first-mentioned means during the first half of the first dot cycle of the received signals of a code character, means for positioning the unselected code members in neutral position, said selected code members after said movement and said unselected code members in neutral position having slots to receive a member for printing the code character of the received signals, and means for stopping the operation of said first-mentioned means and starting the movement of said printing member into said slots in the first half cycle or the space immediately following the last dot cycle of the received signals of the character.

2. In printers for codes having characters of unequal length, a plurality of slotted code bars, said code bars having a mark position, a space position and a neutral position, a selector shaft, means for starting the rotation of the selector shaft during the first half of the first dot cycle of the received signal, means operated by said shaft in the last half of each dot cycle of the received signal for selecting predetermined ones of said code bars for mark or space position, printing means for the code characters, said selected and unselected code bars having slots aligned with one of said printing means for the code character of the received signal, means for stopping the rotation of said selector shaft in the first half cycle of the space immediately following the last dot cycle of the received signal, and means for returning the selected code bars to neutral position.

3. In printers for codes having characters of unequal length, a plurality of code bars, said code bars having a mark position, a space position and a neutral position, a selector shaft, means for starting the rotation of the selector shaft during the first half of the first dot cycle of the received signals of a code character, means operated by said shaft in the last half of each dot cycle of the received signals of a code character for selecting predetermined ones of said code bars for movement to mark and space positions, means for stopping the rotation oi said selector shaft in the first half cycle or the space immediately following the last dot cycle of said received signals, and means for simultaneously moving the selected code bars to mark and space position,

4. In printers for code characters of unequal length, a rotatable shaft, a drum rotatable by said shaft, a plurality of radial bars in said drum, a plurality of code bars, a plurality of T's for engaging said code bars, a plurality of swords for engaging said T's, cam members for positioning said swords against said T's, means for starting said shaft into operation upon occurrence of a mark in the first dot cycle of a signal, means for moving one or said radial bars into engagement with said cam members in the subsequent last halves of the dot cycles, and means for stopping the rotation of said shaft and for disengaging said radial bar from said cams upon the receipt of the first half of the dot cycle of a space.

5. In printers for code characters of unequal length, a rotatable disc, a plurality of radial operating bars pivoted on said disc, means for starting the rotation of said disc during the first half of the first dot cycle of the received signals of a code character, a plurality of selector bars positioned above and out of line with said operating bars, means for raising one of said operating bars into line for successively engaging said selector bars, and means for' depressing the lastmentioned operating bar after the first half of the first dot cycle succeeding said signal.

6. In printers for code characters of unequal length, a rotatable disc, a plurality of radial operating bars pivoted on said disc, means for starting the rotation of said disc during the first half of the first dot cycle of the received signals of a code character, a plurality of selector bars positioned above and out of line with said operating bars, a plurality of code bars adapted to move in either of two directions, means for raising one of said operating bars into line for successively engaging said selector bars, means for moving the code bars by said selector bars upon movement of the operating bars, means to determine the direction of motion of the code bars by the character of the signal in the first half of the first dot cycle of a signal mark, and means for depressing the last-mentioned operating bar after the first half of the first dot cycle succeeding said signal.

7. In printers for code characters of unequal length, a rotatable drum having a plurality oi radial operating bars, means for rotating the drum at the start of the code signal, a plurality of code selector bars having projections above said operating bars, a pivoted inclined ramp for elevating an operating bar into line with said projections, said operating bar moving the ramp out of inclined position, means for latching said ramp after movement by the operating bar, and means for unlatching the ramp when the code signal ends.

RICHARD E. MATHES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,071,140 Penot Feb. 16, 1937 2,141,237 Connery Dec. 2'7, 1938 2,276,263 Dingley, Jr Mar, 10. 1942 

